Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Cabinet’s decision to launch magistrate’s inquest instead of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s mysterious death is an insult to the Malaysian public, and particularly Teoh’s family.

Teoh’s family, colleagues and comrades, as well as members of the public have been calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death to clear all doubts over this case. However, the government has turned a deaf ear to the wishes of the people.

The half-hearted plan to just carry out an inquest into Teoh’s death is simply not the solution to bring about justice to Teoh. It is merely a political solution for Najib to try and limit the outpouring of negative sentiments towards government institutions triggered by the tragedy.

This, together with the setting up of a Royal Commission to probe MACC’s interrogation procedures, is just a public relations exercise designed to somehow please the angry public. But we will not be fooled!The Cabinet should shelve its plan for a magistrate’s inquest and set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death if it is really sincere in finding the truth and helping Teoh’s family.

Loke Siew FookDAPSY National Chairman and MP for Rasah23rd July 2009Mandarin version

Beng Hock's baby boy born

Important!

Sdr Teoh Beng Hock (1979-2009)

We are mourning the death of Sdr Teoh Beng Hock who passed away on 16th July 2009.

Sdr Beng Hock was invited by the Selangor MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) to assist in their investigation into constituency allocations. He went to the MACC Headquarters at around 5.40pm on 15th July 2009 but never came back. His body was found on the 5th floor of Wisma Masalam at 1pm on 16th July, less than 20 hours later. The MACC office is located on the 14th floor of the same building.

Sdr Beng Hock previously worked as a reporter for Sin Chew Daily and joined the office of Selangor Exco, Ean Yong Hian Wah after the 2008 General Election as the latter's political secretary. He was a helpful and diligent young man, liked by all who worked with him and cherished by those who are his good friends.

The death of Sdr Beng Hock is shrouded in mystery and a slew of unanswered questions. It involved a power law enforcement agency in the country – MACC - that was supposed to protect the interests of the people and the country. There have been many police custodial deaths but this is the first case of death in the custody of the MACC.

We demand answers and a detailed explanation of the death of Sdr Beng Hock. We demand justice for Sdr Beng Hock!